Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rusted Hearts
by BroadBlueSky
Summary: Three high school friends are thrust into a world of Pokémon. Caught between an organization that hunts down, imprisons, and executes criminals and a guerilla force that opposes it, they search for answer to why they've been brought to this world and why they've been turned into Pokémon.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Klang! Klang! Klang!

The dull, metallic footsteps echoed through the courtyard outside my window. I felt a pang of guilt reminding me that I was mostly to blame for our current situation. I took a big risk, and now we all were going to pay the price. _Clarence, I'm sorry…_

Funny thing about taking risks; you always assume that they with go in your favor, plan on it even. But, while you acknowledge the chance that things won't go your way, you choose not to think about what happens if that's the outcome.

Just why is that?

Is it because ignorance is bliss and we are better off not knowing. Is it because you're always told that if you don't worry about it, everything will be just fine? Or, is it because the human mind cannot handle the fear that even though it has done everything in its power to keep itself alive, one unlucky turn of events can still result in death?

I don't know. I probably will never know. Especially if** they** keep me locked up in here. I rattled the numerous chains they used to bind me.

"Hey!" a female voice called out from an adjacent cell. "Some of us are trying to sleep here."

"What's the point? We'll all be dead sooner or later," I called back. "The whole point of this fortress is so they can kill us off, one by one, slowly and painfully."

There was an audible splash outside, but since I was tethered to the floor by yet another chain, I couldn't look out my window to investigate.

"Speaking of slow and painful, that's you're metal friend out there for execution, right?" my neighbour asked.

"Yeah..." I replied.

"Do you know how they're going to execute him?"

"No," I admitted.

"He's been shackled to the ground, and that splash you just heard, that was a guard dumping water on him. Now they're just going to leave him there. You seem smart. You figure out what's going to happen."

Another pang of guilt rang through me as I realized what she was implying. "They're going to rust him to death." _I'm sorry Clarence... I'm so sorry..._

"It'll be a few weeks before it kills him, but he'll be in agony the entire time." My neighbour let out a sympathetic sigh. "Poor kid." There was a long pause. "So, how did you and him end up here?" she asked sounding genuinely curious.

"It's a long story," I replied, "and I'm not in the mood to tell it." If only my arms weren't chained. I could probably forced the sorry excuse for a cell door I have, rescue Clarence, and then we could get the hell out of here.

"What if I said I could get you and your little friend out of here?"

Honestly, that spooked me a little. Then again, most of the prisoners in this fortress would do just about anything for that. "How do I know you're not bluffing?"

"You'll just have to take that chance and trust me," she said. "Besides, if you don't your friend out there is going to die."

She had me right where she wanted me. "Well, when you put it that way it seems I don't have much of a choice," I began reluctantly. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

"Everything?"

"Yep, everything."

"Well, that's a lot of subject matter to cover. I don't even know where to start."

"Start from the very beginning, because, as I said before, I want to know everything."

"Before I begin, I just want you to know that I'm not exactly your average guy."

"I know. You're half human, half swampert. Right?"

That time she legitimately scared me. There was no way she could have known that.

* * *

A heart is like a bit of metal. It's strong and durable.

But, leave it exposed to the elements too long without the proper care and it tarnishes.

It rusts.

It becomes brittle, and loses its shine

and, if left long enough, it rusts away to nothing.

...

BroadBlueSky presents

**Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rusted Hearts **

* * *

**Here is my first fanfic. I've had bits and pieces of this coming together for a while now and between KinglyShadows' PMD: Ripples of Consequences and ScytheRider's Silver Resistance and a whole bunch of other PMD fanfics I thought, "If they can do it, then why can't I?" Besides, if I didn't get these ideas out somewhere my head would have probably exploded. **

**So, if this prologue has piqued your interest write a review to tell me why. Also, constructive criticism would also be nice as then I know what to fix and/or work on in the future. So if anything doesn't look right don't be afraid to let me know.**

**On one final note as this fanfic goes on please guess, speculate, estimate and predict anything you think will/might/should happen. I just love it when people do that kind of thing. You know? And don't be afraid to ask question if something is not explained clearly. Anyway, thanks for reading. **


	2. 1 The First Big Gamble

Castelia City was quite the large city, streets brimming with people and pokémon. Most were in transit this evening, rushing home after work or school. Some carrying briefcases, backpacks, or bags of groceries. Two such people wandered down a busy street, looking for their friend.

"Charlotte, do you have an idea where he could be." the male of the two asked carrying a plastic bag with some take-out in it.

"Knowing him, Clarence, someplace quiet." Charlotte sighed, though it was drowned out by the chatter of the many people and pokémon walking up and down the streets. "Well, as quiet as you can get in this city at this time of day." She pulled her black peacoat tighter around her body. "Brrrr! Why does it have to be so cold?!"

They stopped as their street met the waterfront, the shorter boy tired from keeping pace with his tall friend. "You think… he's on… one of the piers?" he said between breaths.

Charlotte brushed some of her dark hair out her face and scanned the piers for their friend. After a few moments she spotted him. "There he is, fourth one down!" She exclaimed, taking off down the street.

Looking in the direction Charlotte had pointed out, the boy strained his eyes, but was still unable to see their friend.

"Clarence, come on!" Charlotte called out from across the street. Clarence let out a tired groan and chased after her.

~X~

The sun was just beginning to set, dyeing the sky a pale orange. I was sitting on a bench overlooking the water. I had my headphones on and was listening to music while staring out at the water. I pulled my phone out of my coat pocket to check the time.

5:17

She was probably be looking for me. With a sigh I pocketed my phone. In fact... I tilted my head back to see a pair of golden eyes glaring at me. I removed my headphones, resting them around my coat's collar.

"Hello, Charlie." I greeted with a grin. Charlotte, unfortunately, didn't return it.

"Don't call me Charlie." She snapped taking a seat next to me. "Why did you leave school without us?"

"What? I'm not allowed to go where I want without supervision?" I asked half-kiddingly.

"Not today!"

"Why not?" I asked getting slightly annoyed at her anger.

"So you don't do something stupid!" I rolled my eyes.

"Hey!" a voice called from the other side of the pier. We looked over to see an exhausted Clarence approaching.

"What's wrong Clarence?" I asked my calmer friend.

He took a few breaths before replying, "The masses of people taller than me wandering the streets making it impossible for me to see where I'm going. That's what's wrong."

"Got lost in the crowd?" I asked with a smirk.

Clarence nodded while leaning on the bench.

"So, what's in the bag?" I asked, noticing the bag he was carrying.

"Your dinner." Charlotte replied slightly annoyed. "We ate without you."

"Thanks guys." I said, as I took the bag.

"This is all Clarence." Charlotte corrected. "If it were up to me, I would have let you starve."

~X~

After Marshall had finished his meal, the three high school students took to wandering the streets, trying to figure out how to spend their Friday night.

"I know!" Clarence exclaimed, "Let's take the subway to Nimbasa City and go to the amusement park!"

Charlotte glanced over at Marshall. "Maybe some oth-"

"Sure, why not?" Marshall interrupted. "Sorry Charlotte, you were saying?"

She hesitated for moment. "It's nothing. Let's go."

Clarence just stared at his friends a moment before carrying on.

Marshall hated the subway. So did Charlotte, for similar reasons. It was always packed. People and pokémon, all jammed in shoulder to shoulder. Worse than that was getting on or off, which was a race to get through all the other people to the doors before they closed. Clarence, being the tolerant person he was, didn't mind it as much. In fact he enjoyed seeing the different kinds of people and pokémon coming and going. Even though it almost got him left behind when they were getting off.

Once they emerged from the subway station they headed towards the park. Even though the sun had set, it was far from dark in the city. Lights hung everywhere, completely illuminating the city.

"Jeez, it's bright!" Marshall exclaimed, eyes not used to the bright lights after being in the dimly lit subway.

"You can say that again." Clarence added shielding his eyes as well.

The three teenagers made their way to the park. It was brighter than the rest of the city, and easily twice as crowded. They spent their evening enjoying themselves at the many attractions in the park.

"Marshall. You've got quite the arm." Clarence praised. "I'm kind of jealous."

"Yeah, well, I just wish the prizes were a bit better." Marshall complained holding a mudkip plush toy.

"Don't lie," Charlotte said with a grin on her face, "you like it."

"…yeah." Marshall muttered shoving the toy in his bag.

Clarence checked the time.

11:43

It was getting late. They boarded the mostly empty train bound for Castelia. Clarence started looking around the train. As opposed to earlier in the evening, the train was all but empty. Looking down the length of the train, Clarence could see only a handful of people, though only one of them really caught his eye. It was a man with red hair, seemingly in his late thirties. The part that caught the short boy's attention, wasn't the fact that the man was dressed like some sort of magician; in a black suit with red gloves, and a cane. No, it was that the man's blue eyes were focused solely on him and his friends. Clarence, while unnerved and slightly afraid, couldn't take his eyes off the man. In fact he couldn't seem to move at all. The man slowly and silently put his finger up to his lips, as if silencing Clarence. Suddenly, the train was plunged in to darkness.

"What the…?" Marshall questioned as the dim emergency lights came on. They all jumped to their feet.

"Where are the other passengers?" Charlotte asked, noticing that the three of them were suddenly alone.

"I would be more worried about yourself, Miss Leclair." Well, almost alone. Clarence turned towards the voice to find the magician approaching them, grinning devilishly.

"Who're you?" Marshall asked warily.

"You may call me Lucian, and you three are Marshall Sullivan, Charlotte Leclair and, Clarence Ferrus." Lucian said gesturing with his cane to each of the three in turn.

"How do you know our names?" Clarence asked trembling, not trusting the man that stood before him.

"That is not important," Lucian replied, "I need you three to come with me."

"And why would we do that?" Marshall retorted incredulously.

"You have no choice. None of the doors will open. Even if they would, do you really want to jump off a moving train? If you want to leave, you'll follow me." With that the red haired man turned and made his way towards the front of the train. The three teenagers, having no other real option, followed.

As they approached the front of the subway train, Clarence noticed something floating in front of them. It looked like a golden ring big enough for him to fit through, except, it had nothing but darkness through the middle of it. Lucian stopped in front of it.

"This is a hyper-dimensional hole. It's like a portal." He explained. "And you'll be going through it." Suddenly, Lucian lunged at Charlotte. He grabbed her and started dragging towards the hole. Charlotte reached into her coat pocket and produced a knife. She slashed his right arm with it causing him to yell out in pain and release her. Marshall rushed in and gave him a solid punch to the face. Lucian stumbled backwards. "Ngh! I don't have time to deal with a fight right now." He pulled an oddly shaped bottle from inside his jacket as he backed towards the hole. He pulled the cap off of the bottle as he went through the portal." Jinn!" He called out. "Here is you're power! Now take care of these three." With that, the portal closed.

"What the hell was that?!" Marshall shouted at no one in particular.

"Charlotte! Are you okay?" Clarence asked as he went check if his friend was alright.

"Stop!" Suddenly she shoved Clarence back as what looked like an arm smashed through one of the train car's windows, flew between the two youths, and smashed through another window. "It's not over yet!"

"Aww." Another voice began, "If only that had worked. This would be a lot easier." Another portal appeared, parallel to the ground and much larger. What the teenagers could only assume was a pokémon rose out of it. To say the creature was massive would be an understatement. Only a third of it could fit, upright, in the train. It had grey skin, magenta hair, a pair of very imposing horns, six floating arms, and golden rings that adorned its body. "Unless, now that you've seen me, you want to come willingly." The three teenagers just stared at the giant pokémon. "I'll take that as a no." Suddenly, dozens of smaller portals appeared inside and outside the train car.

"It's a hoopa…" Charlotte muttered in shock.

"I-I guess y-you're Jinn" Marshall stuttered, trying not to panic.

"That's me! And I have orders to get you three through this portal." Jinn replied gesturing to the portal he was currently partway through.

"Specifically that portal?" Marshall asked with a very risky plan in mind.

"Yes," Jinn answered, "but why do you-?" Then it hit him. "Don't you dare!" He started sending his disembodied fists to attack the humans, but Marshall was already running at Clarence.

"Too late!" Marshall yelled as he shoved Clarence through one of the portals. Clarence only stared back in shock, before disappearing into the darkness. Marshall jumped away from the portal just in time to avoid an attack from the hoopa.

"Good!" Charlotte started, avoiding the flying fists. "Now we can fight without worrying abo-" Suddenly, she felt herself get pushed towards one of the portals.

"No! There is not going to be any fight." She turned to see Marshall push her through. "Cuz, we're outta here!"

"Marshall!" Charlotte screamed before disappearing through the portal. Before Marshall could jump through himself, one of the hoopa's fists collided with his stomach. He collapse, barely clinging to consciousness, his vision a blurred mess. He coughed up blood before being picked up by the giant pokémon.

"Lucian's going to be mad." Jinn sighed dreading the consequences of losing two of his marks. "At least I got one of them."

"I wouldn't count on that." A voice Marshall didn't recognize called out. Suddenly, he felt something collide with the hand around his mid-section. He fell from the hoopa's grasp, only to be caught by who he could assume was the owner of the voice. All he saw was something orange before he was dropped once more, but this time, through a portal. He heard the hoopa yells slowly fade as he descended into the darkness.

* * *

**Well, it's been a year. Yeah...**

**Let me start by saying I'm really sorry that it took almost a year for me to write the first chapter. I will _try _not to let this happen again. It's just between life and laziness I didn't write. When I did write I realized; I didn't know where this story was going.**

**But, hey, I know what I doing now (for the most part) and I'm ready to keep this going. (Though I'm not promising it won't die at some point. I have no clue what could happen.)**

**Sorry for the short chapter. It does have about 800 words of outtakes. I have a problem with trying to reveal too much all at once. I have to keep in mind that the longer it takes for questions to get answered the more chapter I can make slowly giving hints and the longer you will stick around. **

**So, the main three protagonists have been revealed. Marshall, Clarence, and Charlotte. The story kind of splits here. Though we're not going to see Charlotte for a while... **

**Review or PM me please. Constructive criticism is always appreciated, and I'm always open to conversation. **

**Word goal: 1000 words met at 1877 words.****Next Chapter: 2000 words.**

**Question: Which character(s) do you like so far? Why?**


End file.
